75000 pieces of silver
by electraray
Summary: AU fic. where hinata slowly develops a backbone and neji's a third year high school student fawned over by girls. Enter Sasuke, kakoii bartender. Any comments or plot ideas welcome.
1. Default Chapter

She woke to blood on her pillow.

Scrunching her forehead, she squinted at the dull red droplets on her pristine white sheets, blinking twice in attempt to remove the fogginess of sleep from her eyes. She traced the outline of the stain then stood up, heading over to the adjoining bathroom.

Turning on the lights, she stumbled to the mirror, placing her hands on the sink. There was a dried trail of crusty blood from her nose to her upper lip. Splashing some water on her face, she continued with her daily morning routine of a quick shower.

It wasn't the first time that she bled from the nose. In fact, it had been going on for the past week or so now. The 18 year old girl wanted to go to the doctor to have a checkup, but after school activities did not allow her to do so. She was part of the martial arts club in the 3rd year of high school, and took the position of vice captain.

That however, did not mean she was really good at kempo or any of the other styles of fighting, she had gotten the vice-chair position because of her family's social status in the city. Her father had owned major hotel industries and is very influential, not mentioning that he had donated huge amounts towards school funding. Of course, he wasn't about to let his daughter embarrass him with her lack of skill, and prompted the teacher to 'do something about it'. Which he did, by placing her into the committee.

She combed through her blue-black hair roughly, it was easy to manage anyway being a sporty bob cut and all, and threw on her usual baggy pants and a tank, shrugged into a light jacket, and went out of the house hurriedly. She was late for one-on-one training with the president.

"Hinata. You're late." A mellow voice tinged with steel greeted her as she parked her bicycle to the side of the basketball court.

Heart skipping a thousand times faster, she bowed until her body was parallel to the floor and held her pose. "I'm really sorry," she mumbled as her throat went dry. She hated offending anyone.

He waved his hand as if to brush off a fly. "I don't want your apologies. I want your punctuality and dedication. It's bad enough that you're not such a good student of the arts. I wouldn't be here wasting my time if it weren't for Uncle." The last bit came out with a little resentment and Hinata flinched visibly, shrinking further into her shell.

"Yes, Neji-kun." She straightened, and looked her cousin in the eye. Just in the last 2 months, she hadn't dared look anyone in the face, but that was before she had decided that she didn't want to be in her family's or anyone's shadow anymore and moved out quietly, cutting all relations with her immediate family.

It was really a spur of the moment kind of thing. She hadn't planned on it from the start, it was years of constant humiliation and self blame that had broke the camel's back. That morning, she had been practising her kata out in the gardens, executing move after move without pause or rest. Like any other day, her sister Hanabi was out for a walk and stood by the tree, scrutinising every move she made. It was normal, really, for her to then open her mouth to criticise her form.

"_You're too clumsy. It's supposed to flow, not performed all choppy like what you're doing."_ Her 12 year old sister sounded reproachful. Under her breath, she muttered, _"you're embarrassing."_

"_H-hai."_ Hinata tried again, pretending not to have heard the last bit, to break suddenly in the middle, and cursed herself for the lack of grace and fluidity unlike the rest of her family.

Hanabi made a sound of annoyance then strutted off, deciding that she was sick of watching her elder sister train. Yes, it was just like any other day. Only that guilt within the usually shy 18 year old had turned to mild aggravation, and she gave up practice for the day, heading into the mansion.

"_Hinata! There you are. Where have you been all morning?"_ the strong assertive voice of her father greeted her ears, and she groaned inwardly.

"_Father,"_ she acknowledged, bowing in greeting. She watched as servants brought his luggage down the marble steps and raised her eyebrows_. "Going away?"_

Hiashi made a noise in his throat. "I'd think that'll be quite obvious. I'm going to China today with my associates. In the time that I'm gone, I'd like you to read up on the laws and procedures of business management in China. You're going to be Head of this company very soon, and I don't want to be disappointed. Also, I might be sending you away to Korea just to get the taste of things. You'd like that, won't you?"

Hinata bit her lip, and nodded. _"How long will you be gone?"_

Hiashi contemplated the question while he looked at his reflection in the mirror on one of the walls, adjusting his tie before replying. "I'm really not sure. 6 months, at the very least. I might be there for a whole year." He looked down at his daughter, and patted her on her shoulder_. "Work hard."_ With that, he was out the door and into his limousine, on his way to the airport.

It was now or never. Calmly, as if in a dream or possessed by something, she went up the steps to her room, and took out a duffel bag, methodically going back and forth her closet and her bag, neatly putting all her treasured things into it and went to the front door.

"_Going out, Hinata-sama?"_ a servant called out, and rushed to open the door for her. The servant eyed her bag warily, and Hinata gave her the best glare that she could muster, which was more of a frown then anything else. _"Alright then, have a good day."_ The door opened and she stepped out, feeling a weight being lifted off her shoulder. In a few days, when Hinata wasn't back at home, the servants would probably be assuming that she had finally rebelled against her parents and moved out in a petty huff. Rich kids like her were always thought to be spoilt anyway. Besides, she had no choice but to go back once she had run out of money, right?

Hinata was bent on proving them wrong. She may be quiet and gentle, but she would not stand being oppressed any longer. Being timorous in nature, it had taken her ages to find a place to stay, and during that time, she had roamed about the streets at night, and meeting all sorts of people during the different hours of day had roughened her up slightly, though she don't think that she will ever really lose her soft edge.

"How is Uncle, by the way?" the boy asked, tying his waist length hair into a tight ponytail and striding towards the centre of the court.

"He's fine. In Beijing now, I think, setting up a chain of hotels there." Hinata replied softly, taking off her jacket and stood in front of him, her knees soft and bent, ready for action.

The heads of the club faced each other, sizing one another up, and Neji sprung first, knowing that Hinata will never make the first move, and charged at her with a kick to the face. She dodged it easily, and countered with a punch which was deflected reflexively, and followed through with a leg swinging into his ribs.

They sparred for minutes as Neji accessed Hinata's improvement or the lack thereof, and told her to stop. They bowed to each other out of formality and stepped away from one another, with Hinata going to the nearest water fountain to quench her thirst.

"You aren't doing what I told you to do. Your attacks always come from the right, leaving your left totally open. It's too predictable." Neji commented, and motioned for her to come back to the court. "Let's do it again," he told her, "And this time, faster and stronger."

Hinata nodded, and waited for him to make the first move which he did, swinging a fist at her, she blocked it with both hands but it proved to be a fake as he twisted into the air, swinging his leg and contacted with her shoulder blade, knocking her to the floor. She was on her feet in an instant and came at him with a series of punches, all deflected. As the spar went on, her attacks were all futile, and she bit her lip in disappointment, feeling her body give up as her actions started to lack in enthusiasm, giving half hearted kicks and punches.

A foot to her temple brought the fight to a halt as she lay sprawled on the ground, breathing harshly.

Neji frowned deeply at her. "Why aren't you even trying?"

Hinata looked down at the ground, not knowing what to say. "I'm not cut out for this." She managed. She sniffled as she felt her nose run, and was surprised. Was she crying without herself knowing? She didn't even _felt_ like crying so why was her nose running?

Bringing a hand up to her nose, she wiped at the wetness, and it came away in a smear of red. The bright liquid trailed down her fingers to the insides of her wrist as she stared at it blankly. A towel strewn in her direction broke her revelry and she glanced up at Neji, who was looking at her in disdain.

"Wipe that blood off. I didn't expect you to hurt this easily."

Hinata looked away uncomfortably. She wasn't about to tell him that it wasn't because of his kick to her head. It was something else. Something that she had no idea about. She wiped her face clean with the towel though, and stood up, thanking him. "I've got to go. Thanks for the lesson." Reaching for her jacket, she dug into it and pulled out an envelope. "This is my withdrawal letter from the club. Please accept it." She held it out to him, looking everywhere but at him.

"I cannot take this. I promised your father," Neji finally said after staring at the offending letter for a full minute.

"My father will be gone for six months the least this time round. I think you've hardly any reason not to take this. He wouldn't know. And when he comes back, we'll just pretend you've tried your best." She paused, biting on her lower lip. "Please."

"I can't. It would mean putting the lives of my family at risk. And I won't do that." The muscle in his jaw bunched and tightened as he pushed the girl's wrist away from him. Just then, 50 metres away, the clock on the school tower struck 8, cueing the chime of the school bell.

Neji eyed her backpack by her bicycle, and glanced back at her. "You did bring your uniform, didn't you?" Hinata nodded. "Let's go for class." They were in the same class of 3-A, where all the brightest students taking the same subjects of business, economics and accountancy were. Classes were held in the same classroom until lunchtime, and then students were to break off into different classes after that, depending on the electives that they've chosen.

From what Hinata gathered(they had talked about nothing else other than training), Neji was taking fine art as an elective, while herself was taking biosciences. She had always been better at studying the human anatomy and cells than finances and economics.

They were walking towards the school grounds when Neji stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "You're bleeding again," he stated, flicking blood away from her upper lip. "I think you'd better go to the infirmary to get your injuries checked."

Hinata stammered, "N-no, it's alright. Nothing to worry about," she smiled with effort, and walked briskly to the girl's changing rooms. "I-I'll see you in class," she murmured before slipping behind the door.

When she got to class, Neji was already surrounded by first year fangirls at his desk, chattering away excitedly about mundane inane things as the boy took out his textbook, flipping nonchalantly, acting like the crowd around him was invisible. That was until someone grabbed him from the back in a headlock, and the offensive movement caused him to be thrown into the blackboard, eliciting a low moan from him.

"Neji!" a blonde spiky haired sat up gingerly, clutching at his head. "Did you have to do that? I'm fragile!" he whined, then grinned as Neji glared at him.

"Piss off, Naruto. You're annoying me." He flicked his long hair behind one shoulder, causing the girls to swoon.

Seeing that he would get no more attention from the stoic boy, he bounded over to Hinata's table, and knelt in front of her desk, placing his chin at the end of it, staring at her with his baby blue eyes. Hinata started and blushed furiously, the tinge of pink running from her cheeks all the way to her arms.

"Ne, Hinata-chan. How're you today?" he grinned, little fangs peeking out from the corners of his lips.

"N-not too bad," the girl stuttered in front of her crush. Naruto had been the only one in school to pay her much attention and treat her like a fellow classmate, not a slave like many of the others did, copying homework from her because she doesn't say anything when they snatched her work from her hands.

A great example would be Kiba, who has said finance homework in his hands, scribbling frantically on his own paper.

"Oi. Why are you copying off Hinata-chan?" the blonde raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms in front of Dog-boy, demanding an explanation.

"What do you care? She didn't say no." Kiba ignored his affronted look and continued with his scribbling.

"Hinata-chan. Say something." Naruto looked expectantly at her, and the girl cringed.

"I-I..."

Kiba stopped writing and put his pen down to look at the girl. Behind him, the class fell silent too, watching Hinata's every move.

"A-ano..." she swallowed, and the fire on her face seemed to be burning its hottest, she didn't think her face could get any more flushed, and whispered, "I don't really mind."

There was a collective sigh of disappointment as the class went back to what they were doing, and Kiba smirked at Naruto, picking up his pen and twirling it smugly on his fingers with a 'I told you so' expression.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto sounded exasperated, and the girl thought she might break out crying any moment.

Pushing her chair back abruptly, she excused herself in a mumble of words and ran out, stumbling into their teacher as he made his way in.

"Where's Hyuuga-san going?" the man looked bewilderedly at his class.

Kiba rocked his chair backwards and put his arms behind his head, balancing on the two wooden legs. "Out." He paused, then continued, "To cry, as usual." He grinned as the class snickered at his answer.

"Naruto! Where do you think you're going! H-Hey!" but the blonde was out in a flash before anyone could stop him.

Neji sat stonily in his chair, his gaze unwavering as he stared straight ahead, not even bothering to look at Naruto as he rushed out to chase Hinata. Really, that girl was such a hassle.

"Hinata-chan! Wait up!" Naruto yelled as he cranked up his speed in order to catch the girl whose back was quickly disappearing. "Damn, she's fast," he panted and rounded a corner, down the steps and out into the hallway.

He could see her dart round the bend towards the entrance of the school, and gave chase, having a clue to where she might be headed to. That girl had always liked to sit on the roof of the Clubs and Societies building, overlooking the sports field.

Hinata ran till her lungs burned, and then ran harder when she heard Naruto's voice trailing behind her. There was no way she was going to let him see the humiliating streaks of tears on her cheeks.

She entered the sports building, and ran up the flights of steps up to the roof, 6 storeys up. Only when she'd slammed open the door with the weight of her body and when the cool mid morning breeze and sunshine hit her that she stopped and sunk to her knees, too exhausted to even utter a sob.

It had been a good run.

The blonde came tumbling through the door soon afterwards, succeeding in colliding into Hinata's back, sending them rolling a few feet across the concrete. Hinata couldn't help giggling as she sat up, a small smile plastered on her face.

"Hina-chan?" Naruto questioned, looking warily up at her. "You ok?"

Hinata nodded. "Thanks for coming after me, Naruto." She said, surprised that she didn't stutter for once. She thought she must be too tired to even stutter. "I'm feeling alright now."

Naruto grinned. "Eh, glad you're feeling ok. I was worried. I'm sorry."

"Hmm?"

"I didn't mean to embarrass you in front of everyone. I know how you must have felt." He said sheepishly.

Hinata shook her head. "It's not you. It's me. The problem lies with me." She trailed off, and Naruto shifted uncomfortably. "Don't worry about me. I'll be ok in the end." She had to be. Even if it took a thousand more humiliation situations, she will learn to be strong.

"I have no doubt about that, Hinata." She looked up in surprise at the blonde. Naruto waved his arms frantically, cheeks flushed as he caught Hinata's stare. "I-I mean, even the stupidest fish learns how to swim, right?"

"Ano..." it didn't make much sense, but Hinata understood the gist of it. "You're right."

* * *

It had been two weeks since she had withdrawn from the martial arts club. Naruto, being the nosy little sweetheart that he is, had been bugging her non stop on why she had quit the team.

"Tryouts for inter-high would be coming up in two weeks time! We wouldn't do without you, Hinata-chan!" he would say, causing the shy teen to flush from the amount of attention she was getting.

However, things had gotten under her skin as she worked late into the night to earn money to pay rent, making her really cranky in the mornings and one time she had even left her usual personality behind to lash out at Kiba who was all over her in search for her homework.

"Ne, Hinata-chan. We'll be having practice this afternoon. You'll be coming, right?" Naruto asked her, the third time in 3 consecutive days and Hinata's patience was really wearing itself out. It didn't help matters any that she didn't get an ounce of sleep the night before, having gotten home at 2 in the morning and facing her assignment until 7 that same morning. This wouldn't even be happening had she listened to her rational side and not left the Hyuuga compound...

"Naruto! Stop bugging me! I said I won't be going to _any damn martial arts match ever again, dammit!_" she huffed, and threw her assignment at Kiba. "Here's the stupid thing, you dumbass!"

The pieces of paper fluttered down on Kiba's head as he stared at her in astonishment. So did the rest of the class, including Neji, who was boring his eyes into her skull.

Hinata dropped her hands to her sides, clicking her jaw close. Breathing in slowly, her trembling hands came up to her book bag and clasped it, hefting it and bowed deeply to the class. "I'm really sorry for my outburst," she said before going for the door to slam into their teacher once again.

"You really are making this a habit aren't you, Hinata?" their sensei asked, frowning at her. He was taken aback at the irritated look on Hinata's face as she stalked out prissily, and turned to his class for an answer, but was greeted by gaping faces instead. "Oh well. Turn to page 1087 and we'll start the class off with some accounting formulae..."

Hinata leaned against the wall of concrete holding up the water tank, looking down at students running around in the field playing a game of softball. She sighed heavily, and thought that the sudden change in her wasn't doing her any good at all. If anything, it was gaining her weirder looks from her classmates, and she hated attention. Absolutely loathed it. As she basked in the sun's rays, she felt her eyes droop close but was aware of the faint footsteps that echoed behind her.

"Naruto-kun. Please go away. I don't feel like talking right now." She said, stretching out her legs in front of her.

"Your mom called yesterday. She said that you've been missing for a few days now."

The girl whipped her head around to see Neji standing there, looking down at her disapprovingly. "Where have you been?"

Guilt struck Hinata like a machete. "I've been here all along, Neji." She mumbled.

The long haired boy creased his eyebrow at her. "Don't play games with me, Hinata. Why haven't you gone home?"

"I've had enough." She replied quietly and stood up, facing Neji. Her lower lip quivered, but she forced herself to look into his eyes, which were like cold slabs of concrete.

"Who are you staying with?" his face betrayed no trace of emotion as he stared back steadily at her.

"Me." She shuffled a bit before making a move. "I've got to go. Excuse me," she muttered, stepping to his side expecting him to block her way and demand an explanation, but he didn't.

She had spent the rest of the school day dozing under a shady tree and woke up just as the school bell rang. It was time to go to work again. Hinata decided that she wouldn't pay heed to her 'mother'. Afterall, she was just a stepmom, and she was certain that she had read in a book somewhere that it was normal for stepdaughters never to listen to their stepmoms.

Coming to a stop and getting off her bike, Hinata jogged into the shopping complex, heading down to the basement into one of the major supermarkets in the city. In the locker rooms, she was greeted by fellow part timers, ducking her head and smiling briefly as she went on to change.

Her job at the supermarket was easy. As all positions at the checkout counters were taken, she was made to take stock of the things in all the aisles, and to stock up when an item was running low. Also, she was in charge of getting rid of expired goods, fresh foods and the likes. It was fun and relaxing, and she liked grocery shopping. So this was sort of an ideal part time job for her.

It had definitely beaten her other job every other day, where she works at night at a bar as a barmaid. It was the only job she could find that wasn't related to her family in any way. She had understood Neji's pain, in a way, as his parents were working under her family. It was true that both of their fathers were brothers, but because Neji's father had married someone of a lower social class, Hinata's grandfather had disowned him out of sheer rage and indignation. And now with companies retrenching workers everywhere, Neji's parents had to keep themselves in her father's good graces in order to feed their family.

It was despicable how an older brother would take advantage of his younger sibling like that, and that was one of the reasons that Neji abhorred Hinata and her family. Even more so now, Hinata mused, with her moving out and jeopardising his family's chances of survival.

"Hinata! Fancy meeting you here," Naruto waved, holding a shopping basket, his attire sloppy as his school shirt hung out from his low slung pants.

"Ramen again?" Hinata shook her head. "You shouldn't be eating instant ramen all the time, Naruto," she chided.

"Heh. I can't help it, it's my favourite." Hinata had heard that Naruto was also living on his own, having just managed to get out of the orphanage after turning 18 a month ago.

"Ano..." she paused, not knowing how to put this. "If... if you'd like a home cooked meal, you might want to drop by my place sometime? I've just moved to this address." She scrawled on a random piece of paper that she has been holding on to. "Here. Come by on either Tuesday or Thursday after 5. I'll be around."

Naruto took the paper from her, looking surprised. "You moved out?"

Hinata nodded. "It's quite lonely living by yourself at times, ne?"

The blonde scratched his head, a glint of emotion fleeting across his eyes. "well, you get used to it after a while," he shrugged. "I promise to visit you sometime soon. I know! We could do our homework together! Then I wouldn't have to bug you so much in school."

"Ok." She felt the corners of her lips tug up into a hopeful smile. "Ja ne."


	2. II

A month had passed. Autumn was coming, a scene depicted by falling leaves and couples walking together in hushed whispers. Hinata drew her long fingers through her hair which almost reached her shoulders now. She pulled her school jacket closer about her and walked quickly home, hoping to finish her homework before dropping by the bar at 10 to start her night shift.

"Hinata."

She stopped walking, and turned to the voice behind her. "Hanabi?"

"Ne-chan." An introspective glance was cast at her. "You've lost weight." The younger girl stated, her hands folded neatly over the handle of her bag in front of her. She had sounded like she was talking about the weather.

"Sou. Well, it isn't exactly really easy living on your own, you know." She tried to chuckle, but it came out in a choke, and she cleared her throat embarrassedly.

"Mother has been asking about you. What should I tell her?"

Hinata gave her a long contemplative look, and all was silent for a moment. She had no idea what to say, and thought it best to leave it alone. Turning her back on her sister, she continued walking, and wondered about the consequence idly at the back of her mind. She had moved out to stop having to answer to her family and this happened to be a very good place to start, she reckoned.

Hanabi watched her sister's hunched back straighten a tad, and thought of the flowers in their garden that were dying without Hinata's care. To her, Hinata was just like those dying plants, she would wither away slowly and it would be no one else's but her own fault. "Ne-chan. You haven't changed a bit." She turned around and headed towards the opposite direction.

Hinata opened the door to her apartment and slipped off her shoes, muttering a 'tadaima' as she stepped into the cold empty room. Flicking the lights on, she fumbled with the remote for the television for some background noise, and went to the refrigerator for a glass of milk.

As she settled down in front of the television with the glass in one hand and the remote in the other, the phone rang. The girl scrambled for the phone, and uttered a breathless hello.

"Is this Hyuuga-san?" a mild voice came from the other side.

"Yes. Can I help you?"

"Oh. Well, you know the spare bedroom in the unit? Um, I've found someone to rent the extra room from me, and I was wondering if it would be okay if she moved in later this week?" her landlady asked, and Hinata nodded her head, affirming her answer on the receiver. "That's wonderful. Have a great evening, dear. I'll see you soon!" Click. The line went dead.

Sliding the phone back into its cradle, Hinata chewed on her lip, wondering how her new flatmate would be like. Hopefully, she'll be as mild mannered as herself and wouldn't pose too much trouble. She looked around the house, and found it too messy for her liking. Hmm. It wouldn't do to ruin the first impression would it? After all, that was what counted the most in any situation.

Glancing at the clock, Hinata figured that she would do it another day, as she had to get dinner ready and then prepare herself for work. A few hours later, she was standing behind the bar counter, a sleek shiny black marbled counter littered with cocktail and beer glasses, as well as ashtrays which were emptied ever so often.

Her trainer was a fellow student at her high school, and she was glad that it was someone that she was sort of familiar with, instead of a stranger. At least she could open her mouth and ask questions without choking on her own saliva.

"Ano, Sasuke?" the boy with eyes that looked like they have been dipped in ink looked at her with an expectant expression. She had been told to drop all formalities the first time she had called him Sasuke-kun, and with those eyes that could kill you with a glare, she obeyed without any argument. "What was the recipe for a Bloody Mary again?"

He sighed, and tilted his spiky head down, looking at the bottles on the rack before picking up vodka and pouring it into the cocktail shaker. Going to the fridge, he took out a can of tomato juice which went into the shaker, followed by some Tabasco, then scooped some ice into it before securing it shut with its cap and shaking it a few times; popping the heel of his hand against the shaker expertly, twisting the cap open and then pouring the red liquid into a glass.

"What's the garnish for Bloody Mary?" he asked Hinata, who had them already ready at hand.

"Celery sticks. Plus pepper, and Worcestershire sauce." She replied, sticking the green vegetable into the side of the glass, topping the drink with drops of said sauce and a dash of pepper. Hinata grinned at him. "Thanks." she grabbed the glass and placed it in front of the customer a few seats away, handing him his change a few moments later.

"I've got an order for a screw against the wall. Go make that." Her trainer told her moments later, while he busied with other drinkers vying for his attention.

Hinata worked silently and efficiently, and before she knew it, the crowd dwindled and she flicked her wrist to look at the time. An hour to closing. From what she knew, this bar was really popular back in the late 90's, but ever since the Hyuuga family had set up newer chains of bars and chillout lounges in the area, business had died somewhat but picked up again around the middle of last year.

"It's our live band that keeps people frequenting this bar." Sasuke had told her, and she nodded, understanding why. Their band was really good; they played all sorts of music, ranging from jazz to hip hop and dance. Often, the staff made dedications and song requests to make their shifts more enjoyable. Friends would pop by to visit them too, making the atmosphere a nice and comfortable one.

"You wouldn't believe the people that come here to drink," the spiky headed boy told her later while they were cleaning up the bar. He had loosened his collar after the lights were turned on, and the top three buttons were undone as Hinata looked up curiously at him, balancing the water laden bar mat precariously as she inched her way towards the sink.

"Why? Are they alcoholics or something?" she drained the bar mat and waited for his answer.

Sasuke looked at her peculiarly, and she blushed for having said something stupid. "Bars aren't complete without alcoholics. I don't mean them; I'm talking about our marketing teacher, Gai-sensei."

Hinata's jaw dropped open slightly. "He drinks?"

"Well, that's a stupid question since I've just said he came here but yeah. He drinks. And he often brings his favourite student here. Lee, I think his name was."

"Isn't he in the Science class?"

"Yeah. I think Gai-sensei teaches maths too. Anyway, since Lee _cannot_ drink, and I mean _cannot,_ I end up having to help Gai-sensei get him back home, which is really unfortunate 'cos I've got a car and he lives right next to me."

"Sasuke, you aren't working because you have to, are you?" Hinata clamped her mouth shut and berated herself mentally for prodding into his business. She sneaked a look at the temperamental boy to find his mouth twisted in a frown.

"It's none of your business." He snapped, and Hinata left it at that. The once cheery air that surrounded them now seemed to turn frigid, and the girl finished her cleaning duties as quick as she can, setting the mop aside and then plopping down on the highly modern stool in front of the bar, flipping open the stocktaking book and checking the bottles that needed to be replenished.

"Don't forget Pimms No.1. We've just ran out of it today." Sasuke spoke for the first time in an hour, and Hinata managed to crack a relieved grin.

"Okay."

Sasuke moved to sit beside her, fishing out a pack of Salem's as he stuck one in the corner of his lips, lighting it up with a flashy lighter. He stuck the packet in front of her face, offering her one which she declined with a shake of her head. He kept it back into his pants pocket. "You'll learn how to smoke sooner or later, working in this kind of environment," he mumbled, the cigarette obstructing his speech.

Hinata narrowed her eyebrows, which was saying a lot for the normally timid girl. "I will not." She told him, turning away from the boy.

"We'll see." Was his reply as he snatched the stock book from her and flipped through the pages. The girl couldn't be bothered to take it back from him and sat there, stifling a yawn with the back of her hand. Black eyes flicked at her for a second. "Tired?" Hinata gave another yawn in response.

"If I hadn't quit the martial arts team, I would have been even worse." She said, leaning her head against her outstretched arm, eyes fluttering.

"Fine. I'll leave this for tomorrow when the Boss comes in in the morning," he said, pushing the book and papers away from him and stood.

Hinata looked at him blearily, sleep clouding her eyes. "Mmmf? We going already?" she sat up and breathed deeply. "Yeah. We'd better go now. I've got school tomorrow."

"Me too, baka." Sasuke told her.

"I'm not stupid."

"Wanna bet?"

"I _am not._" Hinata felt drunk. Drunk from sleep, that is.

"Whatever, baka. Let's go." He grabbed the swaying girl by the elbow and dragged her to the front door, closing it behind them and locking it with a huge set of keys.

"Wow. That's a lot of keys."

"Do you talk this much when you're tired?"

"Do I?"

"Nevermind. I prefer you quiet."

"I'm stupid when I'm quiet." Came the soft voice, and Sasuke chose to ignore it. They walked briskly towards the carpark a few blocks away, and he keyed the ignition as they tore out of the building moments later.

_A week later..._

"Hinata-channnn!" she turned around to see the boy-of-boundless-energy waving at her frantically. She stopped and waited for Naruto to catch up, before marching towards their first class of the day: finance.

For once, she had hoped not to storm out of class as she realised that she was seriously lagging behind. Half of what she read in her textbook did not make sense to her, and to make matters worse, there was a mid semester exam next week, which counted for a third of the overall mark. She needed the brain power of someone really smart really soon.

As if on cue to her prayers, Neji strode in with a bevy of giggling girls behind him, earning irritated looks from the boys in her class. Neji was the genius of the class. Always one to score the top mark, he was both humble and helpful towards the rest of the students, offering tuition whenever he can. All this on top of being president of the martial arts club. Everyone would have loved to hate him, but they couldn't. Not when he was protected by a wall of charisma.

There _was_ another genius in their class however, and Hinata turned around to look at Sasuke, who was currently sleeping on his desk, arms sprawled across the table, their fingers dangling at the sides. Before taking up her job, she had never noticed Sasuke, preferring to keep to herself and notice only those immediately around her, namely Naruto.

Speaking of the blonde, he was arguing over her assignment on the table with none other than Kiba, the lazy bum.

"Naruto-kun," she started, causing both of them to stop and look at her. "Let him have the assignment. It's not like I have been skipping classes and scribbling nonsense on it anyway." She shrugged, and saw Kiba hesitate copying from her paper from the corner of her eye.

She grinned inwardly, and figured subtlety is good. She continued, "If sensei saw another person having the same 'type' of answers, maybe he'll think that it isn't so wrong after all. Then I probably won't fail next week's exam!" she faked happiness.

Kiba inched away from Naruto and herself, mumbling something about doing a good deed by leaving Hinata alone for once to bug someone else. Naruto blinked owlishly at Kiba, who was on another girl's back in a flash, begging for answers.

"Hey. I keep forgetting to ask you about those dark circles under your eyes. You okay?" blue eyes were fixed upon her in concern as she nodded her head, giving one of her little smiles.

"Yeah. I got home late last night from work."

"Again? Isn't there another job with better hours and pay?"

"Those not under the Hyuuga Corp? No, I don't think so." Hinata replied, shrugging. "Anyway, it's quite fun. I get to learn a lot about other people."

"If you say so..." he trailed off, and Hinata looked curiously up at him. "You're bleeding." He said, and fumbled for a piece of tissue.

The only tissue he had was crumpled and she didn't dare take it. Who knew where it had been. Turning around, she dug around her bag while her nose dripped all over her skirt, and pulled out a packet. She held it against her nose and tried to calm Naruto down, but the boy's gone panicky at the sight of blood and began making wild gestures, gaining the attention of those around her.

"Tilt your head back, it's supposed to stop the blood flow," one of the students suggested, and Hinata blushed, wondering why hadn't she thought of that earlier.

"Do you want to go to the infirmary? I'll take you," another one offered, and Hinata felt oddly touched by their actions. And here she was thinking that the class had only wanted to tease and belittle her, and hated herself for acting the victim all the time.

"It's alright. I'll be fine after a while." The truth is she did not want to miss any more finance classes and Iruka-sensei came in right after she finished her sentence with a cheery grin.

"Ah, Hyuuga-san. How nice it is not to bump into you at the door for once!" he paused, noticing the red stained tissue which was now turning brown in her hand. "Are? You're bleeding?"

"I-I'm fine! Please, continue with class." Hinata piped up, then ducked her head.

"Sasuke-kun!" he boomed, and there was a rattle as the dark haired boy jumped from his seat. "If you'd kindly join us in the world of the living... Great. Now that I have everyone's attention, I've got an announcement to make."

As everyone hushed, Iruka-sensei continued, "I have realised that most of you haven't been handing in your assignments as of late and well, I do know that this particular topic is quite... hard to grasp, so I've decided to give you guys a break and cancel next week's mid semester exam." A collective cheer was heard and the smiling man raised a hand to quieten them down. "In place of the exam, however, you'll be doing a project that will last through the rest of the semester.

"I'll pair you lot up, and in that pair, you're supposed to come up with the week's lesson based on the topic given. This will hopefully put you in each other's wavelength so you might understand the topic better. You may see me after class to ask questions. Anyway, let's get down to business." And he went on stating the pairs that he had assigned, and Hinata had Naruto as her partner.

Hinata heaved a sigh of relief, and grinned at Naruto, who returned it with as much enthusiasm. In the corner of her mind, she noted that Neji had gotten the sassy Mia, who was well known for her rebelliousness in school. Sasuke had Hiroe, who was an ordinary girl with good grades, who also happened to be his girlfriend; a tidbit that Hinata had found out from a very drunk Lee who was babbling non stop about his crush, a certain pink haired girl named Sakura, and how lucky Sasuke was to have someone whom he loved and already loved him.

School was over by the time she knew it, and it was time to head down to the supermarket for work. She dragged her bicycle from its place, listening to Naruto's plan about how they should go about doing the project.

"Okay. I've got to rush. See you later." She climbed on the bike and pedalled away.

She grabbed her head as it throbbed, the other hand steadying the bag of groceries she had gotten after work. Pushing the keys into the doorknob, she twisted it and opened the door, momentarily having forgotten that she had a new roommate who had moved in a couple of days ago.

"Tadaima," she said to no-one in particular, not expecting a reply.

"Okaerinasai!" Came a chirpy voice, and she looked up to see a pretty girl with large dark eyes staring back at her. "Oh! Let me help you with that!" she came and took the bags out of her hands, putting them on the kitchen counter. The girl had a traditional Chinese hairstyle, two buns atop of her head, reminding her of a character from a game that she had played many, many years ago.

"T-Ten-ten." She stuttered, not knowing what else to say.

"Yes?"

"Uh. I had nearly forgotten you were staying here." She gave a sheepish smile.

"Don't worry about that. I'm sure in a few weeks time this place wouldn't seem right without me." Ten-ten grinned, as the microwave beeped behind her. "Oh! I've made dinner enough for the three of us." She told her, running to the microwave to get her dish out.

"Three of us?" Hinata's heart skipped a beat. Visitors? No way...

"Yup. You wouldn't mind if my boyfriend came over, would you?" Ten-ten bit her lip, looking really hopeful.

"Uh... I guess not..."

The doorbell rang. "That's great! I think that's him at the door," she winked at Hinata who looked like she'd just been swept by the whirlwind.

The door opened and Hinata busied herself with the groceries on the table, not wanting to greet Ten's boyfriend with a great big smile. She could hear them exchanging hugs and kisses at the door, and both of them stepped in, with Ten-ten's voice gradually getting louder as she neared the kitchen, and she was talking about her new flatmate, who was the 'sweetest girl ever'.

Hinata flushed a little, she hadn't really been around the house long enough(because of her schedule) for Ten-ten to have a proper impression of her. Taking out some juice from the fridge, she decided to pour 3 glasses of it and carried it in one hand out to the adjoining living room.

"Hello." Hinata greeted, and her stomach churned as she realised the guy had waist long hair.

He turned around, and the girl nearly dropped the glasses she was holding as the person turned out to be none other than Neji.

"Neji-niisan!"


	3. III

"You two know each other?" Ten-ten sounded too happy for Hinata's comfort.

Before her legs could give out, she quickly placed the glasses on the knee high table, and knelt on the mat, head still whirling as she grabbed it roughly to stop it spinning.

"You ok?" the cheery girl asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You look like you want to tear your hair out or something," she laughed.

"Um..."

"She'll be fine. When she gets nervous her head spins." Neji offered, taking a sip from the glass. "We're cousins." He added as an afterthought.

"Really! Wow... what a coincidence."

Neji smiled suddenly, and asked what was for dinner as Ten-ten jumped up to save her chicken from burning on the stove. When Ten-ten was out of hearing range, Neji turned back to Hinata who was groaning softly.

"You've been having headaches forever," Neji commented, looking speculatively at her. "So. You've moved in here." He said, eyeing the place with neutral eyes. "It's not too bad."

Today was just full of surprises. First, Neji being Ten-ten's boyfriend, then Neji smiling, and now this, saying that her apartment wasn't 'too bad'. Hinata mused, "Your girlfriend _did_ choose this place. Of course it wouldn't be _too bad_."

"The Hinata I knew didn't say those things out loud, even if she did think them," Neji said, his face expressionless, but Hinata knew better. He was amused. Afterall, they had been playmates since they were young, which had unfortunately changed once he had found out that the relationship between their fathers weren't as simple as once thought.

"It has been a good few months. I've never learnt so much in my entire sheltered life," she replied, as Ten-ten came back.

"Hey guys, hate to break it up, but dinner's ready! Let's go to the dining table to eat, okay?"

Dinner was a relatively tensionless affair, as Neji began to warm up towards Hinata, sensing the change in the naïve girl. Ten-ten was Ten-ten, having the ability to make even the most uncomfortable situations bearable. Hinata noticed that her flatmate was really important to Neji, from the way he speaks to her and the way he scoops more food into her bowl, and asking her how's the food though she had been the one to cook it.

After the meal was over, they gathered a couple of pillows and propped them up against the wall, leaning against them and flipping the channels on TV as Hinata cut up fruits in the kitchen, placing them into the fruit bowl.

She could hear a squeal coming from Ten-ten as she carried the fruit bowl out, seeing the girl squirming in the pillows as Neji tickled her relentlessly. She smiled to herself, and cleared her throat to catch their attention.

"Oops, sorry. Neji! It's all your fault!" Ten-ten smacked him with a smaller pillow lying by the side.

Neji feigned hurt and pinched her nose, eliciting another undignified squeak from the high-spirited girl. Not wanting to be in their way, she placed the fruit bowl on the table, and stood up to leave when Ten-ten waved a dvd in her face.

"Interested in watching Hitch? I heard it's really funny."

"Um, I think I shouldn't. I've got a lot of work to catch up on. You guys have fun." She smiled, and stood. She felt rather uncomfortable as she saw Neji look at her as she straightened with a wary look in his eye, but ignored it and headed for her room.

It was 12 at night when Ten-ten knocked on her door then opened it, peeking into the lit room. Hinata's head was on her arm as she dozed.

"Hinata?" came the soft voice, but it was enough to wake Hinata from her nap.

"Huh?" she looked around, not seeing anyone.

"Behind you, dear." She giggled.

Hinata turned around, and rubbed her eyes. "What's up?"

"Someone's on the phone. I forgot to ask who it was though," Ten-ten told her, sticking her tongue out.

"Oh, that's fine. I'll just go answer it," the smaller girl darted out of her room noiselessly, and padded toward the phone, which was beside Neji. "Hello?" she asked, and Neji looked quickly at her then turned back to the movie.

"Sasuke?" her voice was thick with sleep. "Oh. Right. Uh huh. No, that's alright. I'll be there. Just give me fifteen minutes. Yeah. I'll take a cab or something. No. Don't worry about it. Yeah. Can I go now? _Ok._ _Fine._ Bye." The phone clicked. Hinata stood, and gave a sharp shake of her head, and sighed deeply.

"What's wrong?" Ten-ten's head perked up.

"Nothing. I'm going out." She grabbed her jacket and house keys, heading out the door.

Neji stood, not before brushing a soft kiss on his girlfriend's temple. "Where're you headed? I'll give you a lift."

"Not necessary. I'll take a taxi. You stay here and watch your movie."

"No. It's late, and it's not safe for a girl out on the streets this late."

Hinata felt like rolling his eyes at her cousin's protective behaviour, and bit her lip from doing so. It reminded her of their relationship just 3 years back, when they were still close. "Okay."

She rested her head against the window, listening to the music that was playing on his stereo.

"I didn't know you knew Sasuke," Neji began, his eyes on the windscreen.

"Yes. He happens to be in my class. If I remember correctly, it happens to be your class too," she said dryly.

"You know what I mean, baka 'jou-chan. I mean, ready to meet him in the dead of the night kind of 'know'."

"Don't call me that." She had referred to his nickname for her, 'baka ojou-chan'. "I've moved out, I've changed, but that doesn't mean we can suddenly be good pals again." She watched the window as they neared the street where her pub was. "Stop the car. We're here." She waited with her hand on the handle, hoping to flee as quickly as she could after the car had stopped.

Neji was quiet as he braked the car, and looked at the pub. "I'm coming with you." He said, switching the engines off.

"No. I'm not here to drink. I'm here to _work_. Sasuke's short staffed tonight, and Lee's been making a lot of noise, and Gai-sensei can't control him, so Sasuke's going to send him back, and he needs someone to tend the bar while he's gone." Hinata explained in a rush, and looked at Neji pleadingly. "Please. Just go. I'll be fine."

Neji hesitated, and nodded after a few moments. "I'll be staying over at Ten-ten's tonight."

Hinata looked shocked. She gaped at him, her jaw working but no sound came out. "I-, that is, um, you- I- T-too much information!" her cheeks flamed, and she opened the door and jumped out, slamming it behind her and rushing into the back alley, entering through the back door.

Neji sat in the car, eyes glittering with mirth. "I wasn't implying _anything_." He smirked and drove off.

She changed into her usual uniform of a fitted white shirt and black slacks and went behind the bar, watching Sasuke dispensing drinks with what seemed like eight arms and trying to soothe the very drunk and boisterous Lee who was making a scene at the bar.

"Why wouldn't Sakura-chan even look at me?" he wailed, gripping Sasuke by the collar, causing him to nearly spill beer on himself.

"Dammit, ahou! Watch yourself!" Sasuke hissed, shaking his arm free of the other boy's grasp and handing the beer over to a Caucasian who gave him a twenty and told him to keep the change.

The band was in the middle of a song, and the pub was full of older students and working people, being a Friday night. Sasuke noticed Hinata already dispensing drinks herself, and gave a small sigh of relief.

"Thank god you're here. Look at the crowd. And bloody Shino had to be sick today." He scowled, but as a lady waved at him to get his attention, he turned to her with a dazzling smile and took her order, stunning Hinata.

"You really should smile at me more often," Hinata groused.

"This," he pointed as his dazzling smile, "is fake." He said through his teeth. "It's a 'business smile'. I can't help it if I'm naturally good looking." He shrugged. "That lady asked for a Mai Tai. Don't look at me like that. Triple sec, rum- dark and light, bitters, grapefruit juice and now I've gotta run and send this idiot back to his hole. I'll be back as soon as I can." He grabbed his car keys from the glass cabinet and went out the bar, throwing Lee's arm around his shoulders, hefting the lithe boy and dragging him out with the help of Gai-sensei, who wasn't very sober himself.

Hinata did the cocktail in record time, as the people at the bar threw orders at her, leaving her sweaty and nervous. As the night wore on, she relaxed into the pace, which seemed to be slowing down as it reached the early hours of the morning. The band was exceptionally good today, seemingly feeding off the energies of the crowd, singing and playing really powerfully, and Hinata couldn't help but feel energised and alive as she too fed off the energies of the people.

It was three thirty in the morning when Sasuke came back, and the crowd had already left earlier when the band retired for the night. "How's Lee?"

"Still an asshole." He grumbled, and opened his collar to show her finger marks on his neck. Hinata bit back the urge to laugh. He looked at her critically then said, "If you want to laugh, go right ahead. You look like you're choking on something."

"Sasuke... you're pouting!" Hinata managed to say as she collapsed in giggles.

He frowned. "Am not,"

"Like the lady says, you are." A guest piped up, holding his glass of bourbon up in a toast as he downed the last of it. "Great night tonight. I'd best be leaving. Good night you guys. Great job." He waved, and the teens waved back as he exited the pub. There goes their last customer.

"Can we close now?" Hinata glanced at her wrist for the umpteenth time that evening, and it was close to 4.

"Sure. As much as I like to watch people drink, I think that's it for tonight. I'm bushed." He stretched and heard the popping of his vertebrae. "Yow. That feels good."

They were cleaning up for a while when Hinata spoke. "I have a question."

Sasuke glanced up at her. "You've got the right to ask and I, a right not to answer. Shoot."

"How do you manage to do this every night and yet still get to class on time and get top marks?"

Sasuke chuckled. "Is that it?"

Hinata nodded. "I'm a simple girl with simple goals. I want to do well. For myself." She added the last part in a rush.

The boy nodded, his black orbs looking dull and flat. "I was always in my brother's shadow, from the moment I was born. He was the genius, I was just hardworking and determined. All the stuff that we're learning now, I got them down pat when I was in primary school. You could say my childhood was books and more books. Anything to shine brighter than my brother. To cast my own shadow instead of being engulfed by his." Sasuke shrugged. "As for the waking up part, well, I guess I'm used to it." He paused, then added, "I do take naps in the afternoon and in between classes of course."

Hinata gave a 'hmm' in response, and went over to check their tip basket, tipping out the money on the counter, counting how much they've earned that night. "Wow. That's 50000 yen in here! We've got real generous people in here tonight."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "That? That's nothing. Back two years ago, we made double that amount easily. Of course, we had more experienced bartenders of course."

"Oh." Hinata felt a little disappointed.

"Did you expect to be the best there is? Of course not. There'll always be competition, that's life. You'll be compared to others, there's no escape from that either. You're not living in a fairytale where everyone cuts you slack."

"I know that."

"Then act like it."

Hinata grew annoyed. "You don't know me. Stop judging me."

"That's just it. You don't understand." He sighed and shook his head. "I don't want us to argue, ok? Let's just get out of here so I can go back to Hiroe."

"The great Sasuke, avoiding confrontation? That's a first." Hinata mocked, and wondered where had that came from.

"And Hinata Hyuuga the mute, provoking me for a reaction? That's a laugh," Sasuke retorted, and Hinata turned away in embarrassment and anger.

They worked in silence, and Sasuke sent Hinata back as usual. The girl got out the car, thanking Sasuke and he drove off into the night, red taillights of his car disappearing into the distance. The sky was beginning to lighten and the sound of birds chipping was heard as she fished out her keys, jabbing them into the hole before sliding into the quiet apartment.


	4. IV

"Tadaima," she whispered, shutting the door close behind her. She was greeted by the flashing light of the television, its volume turned down low and Hinata turned to see Neji and Ten-ten sleeping on the pillows, huddled close together. A pang of guilt cut through her as she looked at the couple.

Padding to her room, she got out extra blankets and went back out, gently covering the both of them as they snuggled into the new found warmth. Yawning widely, she collapsed on her bed, too tired to even take a shower, figuring that she'll do it later, since it was a weekend after all.

Hinata woke up to the delicious smell of someone cooking, and her stomach growled in appreciation. "Ugh." She sat up as her head began throbbing. "Not now..."

Stumbling to the bathroom with a towel draped across her shoulder, she went out of her room to see Neji sitting in front of the TV eating a bag of chips. She was about to turn away when he called her back.

"Morning." He greeted, taking in the sight of a very dishevelled Hinata, whom he was not used to. At all.

Hinata tried smoothing out her bob cut as it stuck out each and every direction possible. "Morning," she croaked, her voice hoarse from sleep. The girl tried clearing her throat, but it was too dry. She pointed in the general direction of the bathroom. "I'm gonna shower."

"Don't let me stop you," Neji raised his hands.

Fifteen minutes later, a more refreshed looking Hinata came out of the bathroom, and Ten-ten jumped in front of her with a plate of freshly cooked okonomiyaki. "Try it!" she exclaimed, forking a piece up to her lips, and she opened them as the morsel slipped in. Hinata thought she had died and gone to heaven; she was so hungry.

"It's really good." She told Ten-ten, who looked at Neji with a smug expression. "Neji! Did you hear that? She said it was good!"

"What she says doesn't count," came the voice from the hall.

"Yes it does. She lives here." She said, as if it explained everything. "Come on Hina-chan, let's eat." She was about to pull Hinata into the kitchen with her but the girl held back, and pointed at her wet clothes.

"I'm going to change into a new set of clothes. These are dirty."

"Ok. Come back quick!" she carried the plate back into the kitchen.

Just then, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." Neji uttered, and headed for the door. He wondered who it could be, as he knew that Hinata didn't have a lot of close friends. The door opened and a certain blonde haired blue eyed boy greeted him with a basket of fruits.

Naruto stared at Neji as he stared steadily back.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked finally.

"What are _you_ doing here?" the long haired boy threw the question back at him.

"What do you mean what I'm doing here? Hinata invited me over. She said I could come whenever I liked." He finished, sounding a little proud of that fact. "And you?"

"My girlfriend stays here," he gritted out and smirked as Naruto's eyes widened.

"Hinata? Your girlfriend?"

At that moment, Ten-ten came over, wondering what the hell was taking Neji so long to answer the door. "What's wr-" she paused and noticed Naruto. "Oh. Hey there. Looking for someone?"

Naruto looked dumbfounded, and checked the address scribbled on his palm. "Is this even the right house?" he muttered to himself, and checked the door. Yep. It said No. 5. "Where's Hinata?"

Ten-ten's mouth widened into a smile as she ushered Naruto in. "Oh, you're Hinata's boyfriend! Why didn't you say so earlier? Come in!" a glass of juice was thrust in his hands as he was sat on the kitchen table. "I was just cooking some okonomiyaki. What toppings would you like?"

"Uh, teriyaki chicken?"

"One teriyaki chicken okonomiyaki, coming right up!" metal tongs flashed as she went to work.

Naruto turned and glared at Neji, who was sitting opposite him, sipping coffee insouciantly. "That's your girlfriend? Very... effervescent."

"She is, isn't she?"

Hinata came into the kitchen, wondering what all the noise was about. "Ne, Ten-ten, what was all that ruckus about?" that was before she laid eyes on Naruto, whose face lit up as soon as she saw him.

"Hi, Hinata-chan! Ano, I was wondering if we could head down to the library to do some research?"

"Uh... Sure, why not? Let me get my things and we'll get going." She started for her room but Neji stopped them.

"I don't think so. Not until Hinata eats something. She hasn't had food in her system the whole night yet."

"I-I had dinner last night..." the girl with dark blue tresses pointed out, not sure if she should be pleased at the concern she was getting from the normally aloof boy.

"What would you know about what she has eaten or not? If Hinata says we're going, we're going." Naruto growled.

"Okay! Your chicken okonomiyaki's ready! Please eat up while it's still hot!" Ten-ten chirped, setting the plate in front of Naruto with a loud twack. The boy looked from the plate to the cook, and felt compelled to eat the dish in front of him. Somehow, he didn't want to incur the wrath of the girl; she might be dangerous for all he knew.

"Um, Hinata? Do you want to split this with me, if you're hungry?"

Hinata set down her things and looked at the Japanese pancake.

"Oh no. There's no need. I've already prepared a seafood one for her!" another plate appeared miraculously in front of Hinata, and she raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"How did you know that seafood's my favourite?" Hinata asked.

"You've got him to thank." Ten-ten nudged her boyfriend, who was looking at anything and everything except her.

"Oh. Thank you." Her voice was soft and meek.

Twenty minutes later, the bundle of energy that was Naruto and Hinata were out, on their way to the city library.

"What shall we do today?" Hinata asked, never one to really propose anything.

"I was thinking of reading up on our topic before taking relevant notes and putting them on powerpoint slides." Naruto suggested, looking at her for some form of affirmation. Hinata nodded. "Yeah. So basically it's just a lot of reading up to do. Don't worry, we'll get through it." He smiled, lifting Hinata's spirits up a little.

They spent half a day looking through the numerous books on the old wooden sturdy shelves, flipping through pages after pages until all Hinata could see were words swimming around her. She squinted at the words of the book she was currently holding, and stared at it blankly as her vision blacked out suddenly.

She'd thought her heart had stopped, and her breathing hitched, dropping the voluminous book on the floor wincing as it hit her toes. She grabbed for something, anything, and her small hands found one of the shelves and she clutched at it, willing her vision to return. When it was apparent that her sight wasn't going to come back soon, she sank to the floor, feeling tears well in her eyes. She was too afraid to venture out of the deserted corner of the library, and waited for Naruto to find her. Speaking of him, he was probably grabbing a bite to eat at the cafeteria located on the 3rd floor of the library.

Hinata was not sure how much time she had spent on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest and crying silently when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She lifted her face, which must be red and patchy from crying, and grabbed the warm, wide hand with her cold and trembling one.

"Naruto?"

The person who she thought was the blonde didn't reply, and at that moment she knew it wasn't her partner. Wiping her tears away with the back of her hand, she tightened her grip on the boy's hand and asked for help to stand.

She was pulled up to her feet easily, leaving their entwined hands laying by their sides. Hinata only felt gratitude for the stranger who had 'saved' her, and thanked him profusely. "Ano... if a blonde boy comes around here, could you tell him to come here and get me? I-I'll just wait here." She tried her best to sound unaffected and calm, but that plan failed as her voice sounded tremulous to her own ears.

"Hinata." The stranger stated, and the girl's eyes widened in shock.

"S-sasuke?" her midnight blue hair swished as she turned her head away, hiding her face behind a curtain of hair. She had never felt so humiliated in her life.

"Where's Naruto?" she had expected him to ask something along the lines of 'what the fuck was going on' but this unnerved her, and she began to fidget.

"He'll be back soon. He went to get something to eat. Uh, fancy meeting you here." She said, feeling the urge to start screaming hysterically. This situation was too calm and she was feeling anything but right now.

"Project, remember? You're not the only one with an assigned question. Although ours are due after yours, Hiroe figured we might as well get it over and done with as soon as possible." She thought she heard his voice turn slightly wry as he mentioned Hiroe, and imagined a slight, almost imperceptible smile across his lips. After a beat, he finally asked the question she was dreading. "What happened to you?"

Hinata bit her lip, and shuffled from side to side. She dropped his hand to grip her skirt tightly instead. "I've no idea myself." She responded truthfully.

"I'm sending you to the hospital. Come on," he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards the general direction of the exit. Hinata resisted, pulling back her arm for all it was worth.

"I can't. Naruto will be back soon, and I don't want him to worry." She looked like a lost sheep and a surge of annoyance ran through Sasuke.

"You're the one going blind and you're worrying how _Naruto_ would take it? Stop acting the angel and get your arse moving already," he hissed in impatience. Hinata was jolted into action, hastily following him out of the library, and he was decent enough not to let her bump into anything.

As they got into the car, Sasuke could be heard mumbling to himself as he dialled a number one-handed on his mobile. "Hello? Hiroe-chan? Well... really? That's great. Listen, do you think we could postpone our research at the library? Something urgent came up and I had to go. Um, I'm going to the hospital. No, nothing serious. It's just... one of my staff got injured and I'm heading down to see how he is. Yeah. I will. You take care too. Love you. Bye," he pressed another button to terminate the call, and let out a breath of air.

Hinata couldn't see Sasuke's expression to tell if that breath was one of relief or exasperation. "You lied to your girlfriend," she pointed out helpfully. "That's not very nice."

Sasuke chuckled bitterly. "'Not very nice'? Yeah. You think I don't know that? It's for her own good. She's a great person, and what matters is that I'm truthful in everything important." He said, swerving the car to the right as they hit an intersection.

"How convenient." Hinata mocked, growing increasingly chafed. She hated liars with a passion, no matter how justified their reasons were. "And what if she finds out?"

"Then I'll deal with her when the time comes. Anyway, she has this jealous streak in her, which can be really terrifying at times. I told a little lie which couldn't harm anyone. She wouldn't find out anyway." The car rolled to a stop at the traffic light. "Can we stop talking? I'm sick of explaining myself to you."

Hinata shrugged, used to Sasuke's frankness. "Okay."

"You know," he started a minute later, "You're awfully calm for a person who's just lost her sight. Why's that?"

"I was crying when you found me wasn't I?"

"But girls would usually be hysterical. You were just weeping. That isn't normal."

The girl shrugged. "Maybe I knew it was coming all along."

They reached the A&E department of the hospital and checked her in, signing a ton of papers before someone would come out to look at Hinata.

"She doesn't seem to be bleeding in anywhere serious," the medical staff pointed out, glaring at Sasuke contritely.

"If you hadn't noticed, she's blind." Sasuke waved a hand in front of Hinata's face as if to prove a point.

"So?"

The spiky haired boy felt like he could kill someone. "So! Her eyes were working fine just yesterday! If this isn't an emergency I don't know what is." He returned a look of his own at the man wearing the white lab coat and both engaged in a glaring match to the death.

"If I may say something?" Hinata raised her voice and the two men looked at her.

"What?" came the instantaneous reply.

Hinata cringed. "Actually, I think Doctor Tsunade has been expecting me for quite some time now. Just tell her a Hyuuga Hinata's here to see her about her... condition." She said softly.

The medical staff scoffed and turned on his heel, stalking back into his office, while Sasuke was left behind with Hinata.

He narrowed his eyes at her, and gritted out, "A doctor has been expecting you? Why didn't you say so earlier?" his said, voice carefully controlled so it seemed as if he was talking about a dead bird instead of something more serious.

"Well, it wasn't as if I could see where we were going. I thought we were heading to the receptionist to ask for an eye doctor or something. Um. I had also made an appointment a few days back to go today." She looked guilty at the last statement. "It was a coincidence, I swear!"

"Teme... you're unbelievable, you know that? So where's that doctor?"

"Doctor _Tsunade_ is on the 15th floor of the next building. I've confirmed with her your appointment which was supposed to be at 3 this afternoon. Since it's already 230, you might as well see her now." The medical staff supplied.

Hinata thanked him and the both of them worked their way into the other building into Tsunade's office. Pushing the glass door open which triggered off the doorbell, the receptionist turned her head towards them with a bright smile.

"Hi! Hyuuga-sama? Tsunade-san's waiting for you. Please go in," the vivacious receptionist chirped.

Sasuke raised his eyebrow at the honorific, but let it pass. "Do you want me to go in with you?" he asked in a low voice, his breath brushing the shell of her ear.

"No. I'm facing this one alone. Thanks for bringing me here, Sasuke." She smiled at him. "You might want to go back to Hiroe before she calls to ask what's wrong. And don't worry. I'll be coming to work on Tuesday."

"You sure about that? I meant the work part. Your eyes..."

"I'll be okay by then, trust me."

"You're going to have to explain it to me until I understand every single word of it, you know that don't you? One of these days, that is." He said. "When you're feeling better." He was about to open his mouth to say more but Hinata had already turned the knob of the door to go in.

"Are you Hyuuga-sama's boyfriend?" the receptionist asked in a deceptively innocent voice, causing Sasuke's hairs to stand on end.

"No."

"Oh." She sounded unusually happy. "Want to go for a drink after my shift's over? My treat."

Sasuke took a good long look at her, and thought her to be not bad looking. She looked to be in her early twenties, long brown hair interlaced with blonde highlights and done up in a haphazard twist, looking oddly suited to the shape of her face. Her almond shaped eyes were framed by long lashes, and the fact that she had put on minimal make up scored a point in Sasuke's book.

"I'm attached." Was his reply, which didn't seem to affect the lady at all, in fact, her smile widened as her expression turned to a cheeky one.

"Who says I'm trying to scoop you? It's just a friendly get-to-know-you kinda drinking session. It isn't a crime making good looking friends is it?" The girl stuck her hand out, perfectly manicured nails glinting under the bright light of the clinic. "Kagome Chika."

"Uchiha Sasuke." They shook hands.

"Well, think about it. I'll give you my number. Here," she scribbled onto the back of Tsunade's namecard and passed it to him. "Later." She gave a little wave, and sat back down in her seat, flipping through what seemed like the appointment book.

By the time he had stuffed the name card into the back of his jeans pocket and exited the medical building, Kagome Chika has been totally erased from his mind. That goes for working at a place where one gets hit on all the time. He checked the time and decided to call Hiroe before she starts going crazy.


End file.
